“The Pure and the Damned” [ft. Iggy Pop]

The trailer for Good Time, the upcoming Robert Pattinson-starring thriller, sets us up with two brothers and a robbery gone wrong. What follows suggests a time that’s anything but good. When your life is in shambles and options are dwindling, few balladeers are going to know exactly where you’re coming from quite as well as Iggy Pop. The 1970s survivor has long chronicled life on the margins, just the type of blighted urban underworld existence that Good Time seems to be fetishizing. On the film’s “The Pure and the Damned,” Pop pairs with Oneohtrix Point Never (who helmed the Cannes award-winning soundtrack in full) yielding mixed results.

As a piece of soundtrack, the sombre piano and Pop’s leathery meditations sit nicely against the rainy streets and frantic atmospheres. Taken on its own though, the song’s maudlin melodrama falters. Though his line about petting crocodiles is a keeper, others like “the truth is an act of love” are less substantial and frustratingly vague. Oneohtrix Point Never holds back, giving ample space with enough gravitas to carry the mood, though longtime fans might struggle to hear his sonic signature in the workmanlike production. The most obvious comparison is Johnny Cash’s late-in-life collaborations with Rick Rubin, particularly his instant-classic cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.” Perhaps Pop and OPN have such a career-capping moment in the future together, but “The Pure and the Damned,” though head turning, doesn’t quite rivet.